One Shot: How Oscar-nominated 'Kokuho' made kabuki tradition its own

“Every constitution creator has their ain style, but it was truly important to support what was passed down,” says Naomi Hibino, the kabuki constitution creator down manager Sang-il Lee’s “Kokuho,” a mesmerizing communicative of centuries-old Japanese theatrical contented told done a lens of friendship, rivalry and the outgo of pursuing perfection. Orphaned Kikuo (Ryô Yoshizawa) is taken successful by a renowned kabuki histrion (Ken Watanabe) and raised alongside his lad Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama), arsenic the 2 give their lives to mastering the stylized art. Their breakthrough arrives with a show of Temple Maiden, a creation tracing the emotion and envy of 2 maidens who crook into serpents. Together with kabuki hairstylist Tadashi Nishimatsu — Kyoko Toyokawa did the film’s non-performance hairsbreadth and constitution — Hibino blended faithful Edo epoch references with ocular distinctions betwixt characters. “Shunsuke is from a well-to-do family, truthful I wanted to springiness him a vibrant, youthful and besides a cute look,” notes Hibino. “The mode I imagined Kikuo was to support it simple, truthful the simplicity is reflected successful the makeup. [In Temple Maiden] it’s truly subtle, but the borderline of the oculus is simply a small different. I made [Kikuo] look much down-turning.” Hibino applied the achromatic instauration (oshiroi) utilizing methods from the theater, refining it for movie to look much “beautiful and delicate.” Hints of pinkish oculus shadow, acheronian eyeliner, reddish pigmented eyebrows and crimson lipstick implicit the translation — the adjacent “national treasure” has taken the stage.